Meeting in Sorrow
by How about a riddle
Summary: Ever wonder why Boris lives in the Amusement park? Why Gowland puts up with him? How Boris met the Hatters? And how Blood found out Gowland's first name? Well, it all started with the death of the previous Cheshire Cat, Chance Gowland. No pairings.
1. Cat's death

Summary: Ever wonder why Boris lives in the Amusement park? Why Gowland puts up with him? How Boris met the twins? And how Blood found out Gowland's first name? Well, it all started with the death of the previous Cheshire Cat, Chance.

I don't own Heart no kuni no Alice~ but i do own Chance.

**Chapter one: A Cat's death.**

It was a normal day in the Amusement Park, bright, sunny, and screams of joy could be heard everywhere. The owner of said Park was walking around with two workers following close behind him. Mary Gowland, age 24, dressed in his Amusement parks colors, yellow and blue, walked around making sure all of his rides were working perfectly. He was also looking for a certain trouble making cat.

"When I find Chance, remind me to kill him." Gowland groaned as him and his workers took a break on a bench. He loved his park to death, but sometimes it was just _to big._

"Why sir?" The female worker asked.

"Because he promised he would help me out today! Stupid cat-"

"Who ya callin' a stupid cat?" Gowland looked up to see Chance standing beside the bench. The other was just as tall as him, white hair with teal tips, a black hat ontop of his head covered his cat ears. He wore a black jacket with a teal shirt underneath, black pants and gray boots. He also had a teal and gray fur boa wrapped around his shoulders. "You wound me Mary~ I was helpin'!"

Gowland glared. "Don't call me that."

"When you stop callin' me Chance, I'll stop calling you Mary!" He grinned. "Anyways, all of the rides down 'ere are workin'."

"What else should I call you! That's your name." Gowland huffed. "And why should I take your word?"

Chance put a hand over his heart, acting like Gowland's words had wounded him. "Ouch Mary."

"Chance..."

"I rode all of them~" Chance grinned. "Started when the park opened up at dawn~"

Gowland blinked, he had only been at this since noon, and Chance had been going around since dawn? He gave a laugh, shaking his head. "You're something else Chance."

"Tell me somethin' I don't know!" Chance laughed along with Gowland. The Duke dismissed the workers that were with him. Gowland stood up, slinging an arm around Chance's shoulders.

"How about we go for a drink?"

"Now you're talkin' my language!"

And then the two were off. Gowland was proud to call Chance his friend, or rather his partner in crime. Chance had been the Cheshire cat almost as long as he had been the Duke, the two basically grew up together in the Amusement Park. Chance had even taken Mary's last name, because he didn't know what his was. They both worked to make the park the best place in Wonderland. Since the two had come into power, the Park was getting more and more popular, and they loved it.

"Whoa-" Chance seemed to trick over his feet and get knocked into Gowland, who stumbled abit himself. "Hey, kid!"

A pink haired cat looked up at Chance with a smirk. "Watch where you're going old man!"

"Old man? Why I outta-" Before Chance got to finish the sentence, Gowland was dragging him away.

"It's just a stupid kid, ignore him. We got a bottle of wine with our names on it." Chance huffed, but agreed with his friend and walked off. Gowland pulled his friend to the Amusement park office, where he pulled out the bottle of wine and two glasses. Chance sat down in a chair with a sigh. "What's up?" Gowland asked, handing Chance his glass before pouring himself one.

"Just tired man." Chance mumbled, drinking a sip of the red liquid. "Oh! Did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"There's a new hatter! That old jeezer finally took more than he could chew." Chance sat straight as he took another sip. "But now it looks like the mafia are looking for the person who shot their boss. So we should be on our guard."

Gowland sighed at the sudden serious subject. "Why should they care? They have a new boss." He took the seat next to the Cheshire, drinking his wine.

"Yeah, but it looks like it's the new hatter's order." That caught Gowland's attention. "I have no idea what he's thinking. Should I go check it out?" Chance said, shrugging off the boa he wore, then proceeded to take off his jacket.

"I don't think I want to get involved in this." Gowland shrugged. "I'm neutral for a reason."

"So am I, but maybe we should go meet with the new hatter? Just to make sure none of that hate comes this way." Gowland considered Chance's suggestion, but shook his head.

"If this new Hatter has a beef with us, he'll come. Until then I'm keeping my neutral status."

Chance huffed. "I'll miss that old jeezer though."

"Yes, he did always have the best tea parties."

The two finished up their wine, both a little tipsy. However they were aware enough to get up and walk it off. The Park was closing, crowds of people leaving. Gowland and Chance said their goodbyes to a few regulars they got to know. However they were interrupted by a worker. "There's a kid who got in here without paying this morning. We finally caught him." Gowland sighed, going back to work. He walked with Chance close behind him back to the office. To their surprise, it was the pink haired cat-boy that had ran into Chance earlier that day.

"Well kid?"

"Well what?"

Gowland sighed again. "Look, just pay up and we won't have to call your parents."

"They won't pick up. They're never home." The child huffed, crossing his arms over his purple shirt. "They don't even know I'm here." Chance looked at Gowland, who seemed unsure on what to do. The Cheshire took over.

"Hey kid," The boy looked up at him. "Did you notice anything wrong with any of the rides?"

"Huh?"

"You heard me." The boy thought for a moment.

"Well...the teacups weren't going as fast as they normally do..."

"Is that your favorite ride?" The boy nodded.

"I love it!" He grinned.

"Well. Promise to pay for two days tomorrow if you come back, and you can ride the teacups as much as you want. How does that sound?"

"Awesome!" The boy jumped out of the chair. "Thanks old man!"

Chance growled. "Hey, it's Gowland. Chance Gowland."

The boy nodded, "Okay! Thanks Mister Gowland! Can I go home now?"

"Sure kid." Chance patted the boy's head, "I'll walk you home." With that the two cats left the building, and Gowland sighed.

"That cat, thinking he can solve everyone's problems...You." He pointed to the worker in the room. "Get a team to the teacup ride. If people aren't screaming louder tomorrow than they were today, it's on you."

"Y-Yes sir!" And the worker quickly rushed out of the office.

"I need another drink..."

Gowland was actually surprised that the kid had come back the next day with two days worth of entrance to the park. He couldn't help but smile and let the kid run over to the teacup ride. Chance smirked and wrapped his arms around gowland's shoulders from behind. "Mary~"

"What?"

"I'm bored."

"Go ride something. Or better yet, help me with that paperwork you promised me you'd do!" Chance groaned.

"No." Gowland rolled his eyes. "I might head out today. We're running low on food for the stalls, not to mention our refrigerator."

"Take a few workers and head into town." Chance smiled and ruffled up Gowland's hair. "Hey!"

"See ya Mary~" Chance chuckled as he pulled his arms away from the duke, starting to walk away to gather workers.

"Hey, Chance." The cat turned around. "Stay away from the Hatters."

"Yeah Yeah." Chance blew off the warning and went on his way.

By the end of the short day, the stalls were restocked with food and no sign of trouble from the Hatters. Though Gowland did get a letter from the new leader, asking him and Chance over for a tea party. He wasn't quite sure what to do.

"We should go." Chance said, looking over his friend's shoulder and at the letter. "I mean, he invited us."

"I'm not sure..." The letter stated that it was only to be him and the Cheshire cat. That means he couldn't bring any of his workers with him incase something went down.

"You want to stay neutral right? Then maybe we should try and get on this guy's good side."

Gowland sighed. "Fine. Let's go. You guys able to close up tonight for us?"

"yes sir! Don't worry about it." One of the female workers said with a smile. "Go on!"

Gowland nodded, putting the letter into his pocket before looking at Chance. "Let's go." Chance nodded, walking after Gowland as they left the park.

The two hardly ever left the Amusement Park territory, there was really no need to. There was a town that was still in their territory that they could get supplies, clothes, food, anything really. Why bother going out of the territory if you had everything you needed? Gowland and Chance didn't have a good relationship with the Queen of hearts anyways, the previous hatter was nice enough, and Julius in the clock tower was alright to, even if they didn't talk much. The two soon ended up outside the large gate of the Hatter Mansion, the two gatekeepers lead them inside and two the back garden where the tea party was being held.

"A tea party at night?" Chance whispered to himself. It indeed was against the previous hatter's morals. He believed the day was for pleasure, and the night was for business. But Gowland reminded himself that this was a different Hatter.

"Boss, The Duke and Cheshire Cat are here." One of the servants informed the man at the end of the long table. Though, Gowland wouldn't call him a 'man' at all, he looked like a kid! 'He can't be older than 16...' the thought as he looked over the boy. He hand longish black hair, wore one of the previous hatter's white suits, along with his trademark top hat. Perhaps it was just one of those things passed between replacements?

"Ah, Mister Gowlands." The teenager smirked up at them. "Please, take a seat." The Duke and Cheshire exchanged a look before going to the other end of the table. It was common courtesy to sit next to the person that invited you after all. Gowland took the chair on the Hatter's right, and Chance sat right next to him. "I'm glad you two decided to accept my offer. I heard you had a good relationship with the previous hatter, and I hoped that we could continue that."

'The talks like the old man...'Chance rolled his eyes, which didn't go unnoticed by the teen. "Something wrong Mister Gowland?"

"Nothing!" His ears perked up, almost knocking off his hat.

Gowland glared at Chance before turning his attention to the Hatter. "I'm actually Gowland, this freeloader just took my name." He smiled, feeling Chance glare at the back of his head but ignored it.

"Ah, I see. Please excuse me then."

"Not a problem, people do it all of the time." Gowland reassured the Hatter. "However my I have your name? I'm sorry, but 'Mister Hatter' is something that passed with the previous."

"Ah, I can understand that. My name is Blood Durpre."

'That's not errie at all...' the two gowland's thought as the table started to fill with small pastries.

"Shall we start our tea party then?"

The tea party wasn't so bad, not as lively as the previous hatter's. Maybe because Blood kept giving the Gowland's glances and trying to start up conversations with the two - which only lasted for moments. One subject seemed to stick.

"May I ask why you're neutral, Mister Gowland?" The duke and cat perked up at this, looking over at the young hatter.

"Why ask?"

"Just curious." Chance snickered, he understood that feeling all to well.

"I just prefer to stay out of people's problems." Gowland said, taking a sip of his wine that he had asked for.

"That's a pretty vague reason."

"It's the truth." Chance shrugged. "Me and m-Gowland decided on it when we got our roles."

"Ah, so you've known each other for a long time then." The two nodded. "I know you're neutral and all, but I feel as if I should warn you." They looked over at Blood. "The person who killed the previous hatter is somewhere in your territory." Gowland almost chocked on his wine.

"Wh-What?"

"That's why I want to negotiate some territory. I know exactly where the man is, and I know you don't want to get involved so if you would just give the plot of land to me, then I can deal with the problem and you don't have to be involved.

Did this kid even know what he was suggesting? Gowland was about to outright say no, when Chance butted in. "What land are you interested in?"

"Chance-"

"The lower half of the town, I believe it is called the 'slums'?"

"There are no slums in my territory." Gowland countered. "Just people who actually have to work to make a living."

Blood smirked. "All the same to me."

Now this guy was pissing Gowland off. "that's where half of my workers live, so I am not giving any of my land to you."

"To bad." Blood frowned and went back to sipping his tea. What did that mean?

There were no further conversations and the Gowland's dismissed themselves from the tea party to head back home. "I do hope we'll see each other again soon." Blood faked a smile as they left his mansion. Once outside of the gates, they both released a breath that they weren't aware they were holding.

"God damn that Hatter..." Gowland swore before turning on his heals and headed back towards his amusement park. "He thinks he can just ask for my territory just like that?"

"Calm down Mary-"

"Don't you tell me to calm down!" He turned and snapped at the cat. Chance blinked, he didn't think he had ever seen Mary this mad before. He seemed to have realized he snapped and sighed. "Sorry Chance...That new hatter just really got under my skin."

"I know." Chance put an arm over Gowland's shoulders. "Come on, let's go home."

The next day Gowland felt alot better, the tea party almost completely forgotten. Almost. The fact that the shooter was in his territory unnerved the Duke greatly. "Maybe it was a bluff to get you to give up some land?" Chance suggested. "This new hatter seems like the kind of guy to do that." Gowland held onto that suggestion and blew off the nerves.

However they came back when one of workers ran up to him. "Some man just walked into the park and started shooting workers!"

Chance grabbed Gowland and they raced over to the entrance of the park. It was at times like these that Gowland cursed himself for not letting his workers carry weapons. The faceless man had a group of his workers at gunpoint, shouting things that Gowland didn't quite understand. "Hey! Put the gun down!" Chance yelled, grabbing ahold of his hat. He took it off of his head and it transformed into a gun, which he pointed at the gunman. Gowland joined him, pulling out his own shotgun. He hated wepons, but this situation sort of called for it.

The faceless man brought his gun away from the workers, and pointed it at the roleholders. "This is fuckin' neutral territory!" Chance yelled as Mary slowly made his way over to his workers to make sure they were alright. "You can't throw a gun around here!"

"I think I can!" Shots were fired and Mary quickly got his workers out of there. He didn't need more blood on the floor than what these two were going to shed. Chance dodged well enough, but ran out of bullet's quickly. He charged the gunman, getting grazed by a bullet or two before he jumped on the gunman. Gowland watched their struggle with his shotgun raised. 'Just get the hell out of the way Chance...'

"Shoot Mary!" Gowland's eyes widened as he saw Chance struggle for the gun. "Just fuckin' shoot!"

"I'll hit you dumbass!"

"So? Get this wackjob!" Gowland growled, his hands shaking. He couldn't...He wouldn't! Even if there were replacements, no one could replace Chance! He screwed his eyes shut, finger laying on the trigger.

BANG.

Gowland's eyes went wide, he didn't pull the trigger, did he? He saw the mand and Chance go down. Gowland ran over to the Cheshire, his shotgun disappearing in the process.

"Chance!" He turned over the Cheshire, seeing where the shot had landed, right over his clock. Gowland picked up Chance. "Come on! Don't die on me damn it!"

"Nice...shot..."

"I-I didn't shoot!"

"I did." Gowland's eyes snapped up. He was amazed to see one of the servants from the Hatter mansion. "Boss's orders. Kill this man at any cost."

"Even at the cost of a role holder?" Gowland picked up the gun the now dead gunman had and shot the servant. "Give this to your boss! Tell him i'm no longer neutral - and if I see any of you guys here without permission I'll shoot and kill each one!" The wounded servant made his way out of the park and Gowland threw the gun aside to focus on Chance.

"...Glad y-you're sticking up for yourself..." The cat coughed up blood.

"Shh..don't talk. It's gonna be alright, the first aid guys are almost here -"

"Don't...bother..." Gowland's eyes saddened. He knew they couldn't do anything, but..."I'm glad...I met you...Mary..."

Gowland chocked back a sob, hugging Chance tightly. "I'm glad too...you were like a brother to me Chance..."

"Me...too..." He coughed again. "Hey...do me a favor..." Gowland pulled away from Chance.

"What?"

"G-Give the next Cheshire th-this.." He coughed as he put park of his fur boa in Gowland's hand.

"But..."

"J-Just do it." Gowland nodded. Chance managed to use the last of his strength to lean up and kiss Gowland on the cheek. "Goodbye brother...S-See you soon." Then his clock stopped, and his body went slack in Gowland's arms. Gowland allowed tears to flow from his eyes as he hugged Chance's body. It slowly disappeared and soon Gowland was hugging his friend's clock. Afterimages appeared around the Duke as he stood up. He didn't say a word as he handed over Chance's clock. He pushed passed the images, going to his workers that had gathered.

"Chance is dead." A few gasped. "This territory is no longer neutral. I expect each one of you to carry a weapon from now on." A few stayed silent, other's mumbled, and other's just nodded. Gowland wiped the tears out of his eyes, about to say something else when screams cut him off.

"GIVE THEM BACK!" Gowland and his workers turned their attention back to the entrance. The pink haired boy Chance talked to was trying to hit one of the after images. "That's my mom and dad! Give them back!" That's when Gowland took notice to the multiple clocks in one of the image's hands. Were there really that many people killed in that small shoot out. "Give them back. Give them back!" Gowland couldn't stand to watch this anymore. He ran up to the boy, picking him up and carrying him away from the afterimages.

"Let me go!"

"You can't get then back kid." Gowland put the cat boy down, knelling in front of him. He boy sniffed, tears streaming down his face. "Listen...I'm sorry but there's nothing either of us can do." The boy continued crying. "You're not the only one who lost someone today." That caused the boy to bring his head up.

"Wh-who..."

"Chance.." That shook the poor boy even more.

"M-Mister Chance..."

"Yeah..." He sighed, pushing his glasses up. "What's your name?" Gowland looked back towards the boy and couldn't help but gasp. Watery golden eyes were staring back at him.

"Boris...Boris Airay..."


	2. Adjusting

Once again, I do not own HNKNA~ Still own chance.

This chapter isn't as long as the last one. Because I mainly just wanted to show scene's with young Boris and Gowland. Keep in mind that Gowland will probably be OOC, because of events in the last chapter and the fact that he's younger. Same with Boris, he'll slowly make his way up to this trouble making self.

Next chapter will be a time skip and the hatters will be coming in.

Thank you for everyone who reviewed the last chapter x3 didn't think I'd get any only a day or so after I put it up.

With all of that said, Enjoy~!

**Chapter 2: Adjusting**

"Come on kid, I'll take you to your new room."

It took about twenty minutes for Gowland to convince Boris that he was the new Cheshire cat. The kid was so damn stubborn. Gowland grabbed ahold of the kid's hand and dragged him up a flight of stairs in the corner of the office. "This floor is my room." Boris almost had to sheild his eyes because how bright the duke's room was. "Third floor is your room." They went up another flight of stairs.

Boris looked over the old cheshire's room, he liked it much better than the dukes. There were shades of teal and black all over the room. He could get used to this...Boris let go of Gowland's hand to explore the room. "I'll send soe workers into town later to get some new things for the room. Something tells me teal isn't your color."

"Nah. I like pink and purple." Boris jumped onto the bed.

"Listen Boris." The boy's cat ears perked up. "I don't want you to leave the park for a few days. If you need something have some workers go and get it for you."

"Why?"

"Because I say so. Like it or not, as the Cheshire cat, you're my cat. Just listen. Wait a week or so. I'll send some workers to your old house to pick up your things." Boris looked away from Gowland, not complaining or accepting. Gowland sighed, this was going to be more difficult that he thought. "Get some rest. It's been a long day for both of us."

"Alright..." Gowland went to walk down the stairs. "Night Uncle Mary." The duke stopped and looked back at the boy who curled himself up in the teal sheets.

"What did you just call me?"

"Uncle Mary?"

"Who told you my name?

"Mister Gowland did!" Boris smiled up at Gowland. The duke couldn't help but give a small laugh.

"Right...of course he did...Night Boris." He turned off the lights on his way out of the room.

Gowland walked back down into the office, ordering some workers to get some new things for Boris and to go and get his clothes from his old house. "Are you sure you're alright?" A female worker asked, placing a hand on her boss's shoulder.

"I'm fine...I think." The female worker gave him a smile before leaving to go to Boris's house. Gowland sighed, walking up to his room. Boris wasn't the only one who needed to rest.

Over the next week Boris had completely transformed Chance's room to a pink, purple and black paradise. Gowland learned that the boy had a simlar clothing style to Chance, which made the Duke smile. He did plan to take Boris into town today, so he could show the cat the rest of the territory. However he couldn't find the cat anywhere!

"He's just like Chance..." Gowland grumbled. The sound of cheers caught the man's attention as he suddenly looked up to see a huge crowd of people. "what in the world."

"Oh! Boss." A woker walked up to him. "that little Cheshire is amazing!"

"Boris?"

"He's doing all sorts of stunts - there he is!" The worker pointed to the top of a large statue that decorated the plaza of the park. Gowland's eyes widened as he saw Boris balancing on one foot at the top of the statue. He was laughing and smiling as bright as he could, and Gowland couldn't help but smile.

"Maybe they aren't anything alike.."

"Sir?"

"Nothing." Gowland shook his head. He pushed his way through the crowd as Boris jumped from one side of the statue to the other, this time laiding in a handstand. "Boris! Get down here!"

"Come and get me old man~" Teh duke huffed angerily, just staring up at Boris. After awhile, the cat got the hint. "Fine~ be down in a second." Boris pushed off with his hands, doing a sumersault int he air before landing on his feet at the base of the statue. The crowd cheered, and Boris made dramatic bows. "Thank you, Thank you~"

"Come on wonder boy, I want to show you the rest of the territory." Without warning, the kid jumped onto Gowland's shoulders. The crowd laughed as Gowland huffed. "What are you doing?"

"Riding on your shoulders."

"Why? You have feet, use em!"

"But this is more fun~" Gowland gave up trying to reason with the kid. It's not like he was heavy at all, Boris was a twig. So the duke sucked it up, grabbing ahold of the small cat's legs and started to walk off. Boris waved to his adoring public as they left the park.

The rest of the day Boris rode on Gowland's shoulder's as they walked through the 'diamond town', as Gowland called it. Though Boris didn't know why the duke was showing him this. He lived in this town for pete's sake. He knew most every knock and cranny. However, he liked ridding on the man's shoulders, and resting his pink head on the other's red. After a few hours he gave a yawn, Gowland wasn't doing much better - his shoulders were hurting from the cat being on his shoulders all day.

"Alright, let's get you home." Gowland said, holding back his own yawn. "I'll have the workers cook us up something."

"Hey, Uncle Mary?" Gowland had long gotten used to the kid calling him that.

"What is it Boris?"

"When can I leave the territory?" Gowland stopped right outside of the gate for the park. He took Boris off of his shoulders and put the kid down infront of him.

"Why would you ask that?"

"Well, you told me not to. But I'm curious! I haven't been outside of this territory since, like, ever!" Gowland sighed, shaking his head. "But why not!"

"It's a dangerous world out there."

"I know! But the workers taught me how to shoot, I can take care of myself!" Gowland pinched the bridge of his nose. God this kid...

"How about this, you can come with me to go see the clockmaker tomorrow. He's a friend of mine." Boris's ears perked up.

"Really?"

"Yes, really." The cat cheered, before running into the park to share the news with all of the workers. Gowland sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

"Watch after the park for me." Gowland told one of his high ranking workers. The man nodded, before looking down at Boris, who was shaking with excitment.

"Try not to drive the boss crazy now, little lord."

"Can't promise that!" The kid laughed, grabbing ahold of Gowland's sleeve. "Come on, Come on!"

"Whoa!" Gowland almost tripped as the cat pulled him forward, who knew there was that much strength in that little body? "Easy kid, you almost made me drop the wine bottle." which he had gripped in his other hand.

"Why you bringing that smelly stuff anyways?" Boris made a face as he looked at the wine bottle, still gripping the duke's sleeve.

"It's an adult thing." Boris whined, saying that wasn't a good answer, but let it go as he realized they had walked out of the border of the territory he called home. Gowland felt Boris's grip tighten on hsi sleeve and the cat walked alittle closer to him.

"I thought you said you weren't scared?"

"I-I'm not!" He huffed, but didn't let go of the duke's sleeve. Gowland smiled down at the boy, and he couldn't help but chuckle at the brave act he was putting on.

"Whatever you say kid."

It took longer than Gowland thought to get to the clock tower. The Cheshire cat blew of how scared he was and wanted to run off and see everything every other second. It was really starting to bug Gowland, however that subsided when they got to the base of the clocktower, and Boris quickly clinged to him again. Gowland rolled his eyes, "Straighten yourself out Boris, don't want the clockmaker thinking you just rolled out of bed right?" Boris shook his head, letting go of Gowland to straighten out his clothes - he had rolled around in the bushes a few seconds before. The kid wore one of Chance's old jackets, even though it was about three sizes to big and the sleeves went passed his hands. He wore a purple tanktop underneath that, with black shorts that had multiple chains hanging off of them. He then wore one purple shoe and one pink shoe. Why excatly, Gowland thought he would never know. "Come on." This time he grabbed ahold of boris's hand before they headed in the clocktower.

Boris started to complain about halfway up, he didn't like having to walk all the way up to this clockmaker's office. "Just shush, one more level and we're there." Gowland said, coming up the last of the stairs. They walked down the long hallway, before finally coming to a double door room. Gowland let go of Boris's hand to push one of the doors open. "Hey, Julius! Brought some wine for us!"

"And your new cat." Boris walked into the room behind the duke, looking at the man behind the desk. He looked alittle younger than Gowland, he had short blue hair and wore black and gold. Boris hid behind Gowland when the man started to stare at him.

"Uncle Mary, he's creepy, let's leave." Gowland laughed nervously as Julius looked annoyed

"Sorry about him Julius. It's his first time out of the park."

"That's fine." He sighed, putting the clock he was working on down. "And I guess since I'm going to be done early, I can take a break for a drink."

"Not like I was giving you a choice!"

Gowland and Julius sat down at the small table a few feet away from the clock makers desk. Instead of sitting down with them, Boris walked around the room, being his curious self. "I guess one of the clocks I've recently fixed as Chance's, wasn't it?" Julius asked in a hush tone, so that the new cheshire wouldn't hear. Gowland nodded before taking a sip of the wine.

"Two of the ones you fixed were also Boris's parents."

Shock went by Julius's eyes for a moment before they went dull again. "So, his name is Boris?"

"Boris Airay!" The cat said from the other side of the room, his cat ears twitching. "If you guys are trying to be sneaky, you're failing."

"Nothing gets passed you, does it kid?"

"Nope~" Boris grinned, skipping around the room. Julius sighed, taking a sip of the wine. He didn't understand why he was drinking while he was supposed to be working.

"So, I've also heard that you're no longer neutral."

"That's the truth, sorry to bail on you like that~" Gowland chuckled before finishing off his glass of wine, going to pour himself another one. However Julius took the bottle from him.

"You have to walk a kid home." Gowland frowned, but knew the blue haired man was right.

CRASH.

The two adults turned their heads at the noise. Clocks and tools were scattered at the Cheshire's feet. Boris's ears were perked up and his tail had puffed out in surprise. "Heheheh..."

Julius stood up, about to scold Boris for almost breaking the clocks he had just fixed, but the cat had already started to run away from him. "H-Hey!"

"Boris!" Gowland called to late, Boris ran out of the room, and there was a crash from the hallway a second later.

"That cat of yours better not destory my tower Gowland." Julius growled,picking up all of the clocks again. Gowland gave a nervous laugh. "Go find him please, last thing I need is him knocking over everything."

The duke sighed, walking out of the room. He saw a vase knocked over in the hall next to the stairs that headed up to the rooftop. He followed the path of destruction until he was up on the roof. He looked around, finally seeing a mop of pink and black standing on the edge of the roof. "Get down Boris, you serious don't want to die after only being the Cheshire cat for a week, do you?" Boris turned to him before getting back onto the roof, walking over to Gowland.

"I can see the park from here!" Boris pulled Gowland close to the edge, and sure enough the cat was right. You could see every other territory from the top of the clock tower. "What's that over there?"

"That's the castle of hearts."

"And there?"

"That's the Hatter's mansion." Gowland frowned at the memory of being over there.

"Can we go to those places next?" Boris jumped up and down with excitement, his eyes sparkling with curiousity.

Gowland couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe."

Gowland brought the cat down to Julius's office and made him apologize before they headed back to the park. Once again, Boris tried to go off every second he could. Gowland basically sent him up to his room when they got back to the park. "Everything alright sir?" One of his workers asked.

"Just a long day..Hey, did you get that thing done I asked you to do?"

"Yes sir! I'll go fetch it for you." The worker ran off as Gowland sighed and went into the office. He headed up to his room, waiting for the worker to return. "Uncle Mary..." Gowland looked up to see Boris coming down the stairs. He was wearing one of Chance's old shirts, which basically looked like a dress on him.

"What is it Boris?"

"You're not mad at me, are you?" Gowland smiled, patting the area next to him on his bed, and Boris ran over and hopped onto the bed.

"Not really."

"what's that supposed to mean?" Boris whined.

"Sir! I have it for you!" Two heads turned towards the door as a worker stood there. Gowland stood up from his bed, grabbing the box from the worker. He said a quick thanks before going back over to Boris.

"Hey, I got something for you."

"A present?" Boris's eyes lit up, and Gowland laughed.

"Yeah, a present." Gowland handed the large box to Boris, who took the lid off as quickly as he could. Boris reached his small hands in, pulling out a purple and pink striped boa.

"Hey, wasn't this..."

"Yeah. It was Chance's." Gowland smiled sadly, sitting next to Boris. "He told me to give it to the next Cheshire. You said you liked pink and purple, so I had the workers dye it." Gowland watched the Cat for a moment, he just seemed to stare at the boa. After a few moments he hugged it tightly.

"Why did Mister Gowland carry it around anyways...?" Boris mumbled, still hugging the boa.

Gowland shrugged. "He said something about a cat not being a cat without his fur."


	3. New friends

Again~ Thank you for all of the reviews for the last chapter, I'm really happy people are enjoying this story. Because right now i'm just writing off of the top of my head. I'm trying to keep the chapters a decent length, but it's becoming harder and harder.

Anyways, this chapter mainly focuses around Boris meeting the Hatters. And a surprise appearance from someone from another territory! Not gonna say which one~ that's cheating.

Next chapter will probably be another time skip. Enjoy!

Once again I don't own Heart no kuni no alice, just Chance.

**Chapter 3: New friends**

"Sorry. I'm not giving you any of my territory yet again." Blood crossed his arms, tightening his grip in his shirt. Truly, negotiating with this man always ended in a failure.

"How come you never even consider my offers?" A squeak from the door cut Gowland off from stating the obvious to the hatter. They both turned and a pink haired teenager poked his head in. His ears perked up as he noticed he was caught and he quickly ran off.

Gowland couldn't help but chuckle. "That boy is why, Blood." The duke stood up, walking over to the door. "This meeting is over. Please get yourself out of my Amusement park." The door slammed behind him and he looked at the pink haired boy that was standing outside, leaning against the wall. "Boris, what was that?"

The Cheshire cat was not 'officially' a teenager, now being 13 years old. He had gotten taller, getting up to Gowland's shoulder now. Somehow the cat had convinced Gowland to get his ears and tail pierced at some point, Gowland didn't quite remember the conversation - the cat probably asked when he was drunk. He wore a purple and pink sleeveless shirt with black pants, one purple sock, one pink, with black shoes. He carried the purple and pink boa around his shoulders, small medals hanging off of it. The workers had given him the medals as gifts. Boris held a pout on his face as his tail swayed. "I thought you were sneakier than that."

"Sorry Uncle Mary~" Boris grinned. "But I got bored!"

"Aren't you supposed to be at your shooting lesson?"

"Yeah...got bored of that too." Boris said, putting his hands behind his head with a grin. Gowland sighed, this kid could be a pain...

"Then go help with some repairs. It's either that or you're going to help me with paperwork." Boris whined as the duke started to walk off.

"Why can't I go play in the forest?" Gowland turned around to see a grumpy teenager. They have had this conversation alot, and it always ended badly for either of them. "You're so mean Uncle Mary! Making me stay in the territory all the time. I'm curious of other places too you know!" The cat's tail poofed out as he glared up at the older male. Gowland ran his hair through his bangs. He was getting to old to deal with this kid.

"You just can't Boris."

"That's not a good reason!"

"Yes it is!" Blood looked over to see the duke and cat in an argument. Maybe he could use this..."You will stay in the territory and that's final!"

"Excuse me, Mister Gowland." Blood walked up to the them. Gowland glared and Boris's ears perked up. "But I think I have a solution to this argument."

"Didn't I tell you to leave hatter?" Gowland glared, ready to take out his rifle.

"Yes, I suppose you did." Blood chuckled. "But like I said, I have a solution. How about the little cat comes back with me for a tea party?"

"I'm not little - wait..." Boris blinked. "You'd let me come over?"

"Of course."

"Wait just a second-"

"No dirty tricks Mister Gowland." Blood held up his hands in defeat. "I'm just inviting the Cheshire to tea. I invite roleholders from time to time, you should know this."

Gowland knew that alittle to well, the tea party he went to with Chance was the last one he ever went to. "I don't know..."

"PLEASE!" Boris jumped Gowland's back, hugging the man around his neck so tightly he was chocking him. "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE-"

"Alright! Fine! Just get off of me!" Gowland managed to say. Boris made a cheer as he jumped off of the Duke's back. Gowland sighed, knelling infront of Boris. "You got your gun?" He whispered to the Hatter couldn't hear.

"Yup!"

"If he puts you in any sort of danger, shoot him." Boris looked at him with a confused look. "Just do it. I don't like this guy, so i don't really care."

Boris nodded. "Okay Uncle Mary!" He said before running over to Blood with a smile on his face. "Can we go now Mister Blood?"

The Hatter chuckled. "Of course." He held out his hand, and Boris gladly took it. Blood exchanged a look with Gowland "I'll have him back alittle after nightfall. Promise, Mister Gowland."

"Bye Uncle Mary!" Boris waved before he started to skip off with the Hatter.

Gowland crossed his arms and huffed. "This can't end well..."

Boris stared up with wide eyes at the mansion. It was so huge! Not as huge as the amusement park of course, but still huge. He held tightly onto the Hatter's hand as they entered through the gates. Boris looked around, about to run off and explore but Blood pulled him back. "Hey~"

"Would you like to meet the Bloody twins?" Boris's ears perked up.

"Who?"

"Tweedle dee and dum. They're younger than you of course, they just came here after they got their roles a few weeks ago."

Boris thought for a moment. Besides Gowland, the Hatter, and Julius, he hadn't really meant any of the other roleholders. So he was curious. "Sure!" Blood smirked before leading the cat to the second floor of the mansion and down a long hallway. He stopped infront of a large door that said 'Dee and Dum' on a sign.

"Here we are." Blood knocked on the door. "Dee, Dum, open up." The door flew open at Blood was soon tackled by two young boys, and Boris stepped back a few steps. They were twins, obviously by what blood had called them minutes before. They both had black hair, one had blue eyes, one had red eyes. The one with blue eyes was wearing an over sized red shirt, the one with red eyes was wearing blue. They both had black pants on and no shoes. Blood groaned and pushed the kids off of him. "Stop that."

"But Boss-"

"No." He sighed, looking over at Boris. "I brought you someone to play with." The twins looked over to see Boris, who shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Hey, I came here to explore, not be a baby sitter."

"Dee and Dum can show you around. They need some fresh air anyways."

"Look brother!" The blue eyed one said. "It's a kitty!"

"Kitty!" The twins ran over to Boris, tugging at his arms. "Wanna play with us kitty?"

'Okay...they're kinda cute when they do that.' Boris sighed and gave a small nod. "Sure! Why not?"

"Let's go!" And the twins started to drag him down the hallway. Blood sighed, crossing his arms.

"What have I just done?"

Boris probably had the time of his life with the small twins. Even though a few times they pulled dangerous weapons on him, he would easily dodge and jump onto the highest thing he could. The twins seemed fascinated by this and started throwing anything they could up at him, just to see if they could knock him down. He used his acrobatic skills to dodge everything, and started literally bouncing off of the walls at one point. They had a group of servants chasing after them soon enough. The three took over behind a bush in the garden.

"Hey, wanna go over to the heart castle?" Boris looked over at dee as he spoke in a hush tone.

"You're allowed to go there?"

"Nah! But we sneak in all the time!" Boris seemed amazed at the idea.

"I-I've never been there before..."

"Let's go then!" Dum said loudly, standing up from the bush. Dee and Boris quickly shushed him, pulling him back down.

"You almost got us caught brother!"

"Sorry brother.."

"Let's get out of here before they get us!" Boris said quietly as his cat ears perked up as he heard footsteps. "To late..."

"Run for it!" Dee grabbed his brother's hand, quickly standing up and dragging Dum behind him as Boris followed them, and a few servants following him. They jumped through a few bushes and eventually lost the servants. The three laughed as they walked down the forest path.

"I don't think I've ever had this much fun!"

"You don't get out much, do you?" Dum asked, grabbing onto Boris's left hand, Dee grabbed onto his right.

"Nah, Uncle Mary doesn't let me leave that much."

"Uncle Mary?" They both asked.

"Yeah! Mary, you know, the owner of the Amusement park."

"I thought his name was Gowland." Dee asked.

"Mary Gowland?" Dum thought and the twins looked at eachother.

"Mary go round!" Boris laughed.

"I know right? But Uncle Mary hates it when I call him that." He said, the twins laughing along with him. "So where is this Castle?"

"Up there!" The twins stopped infront of a hedge maze, pointing up to a large castle ontop of a hill. Boris's eyes widened, he had only ever seen the castle from the top of the clock tower, and even from this far away - the castle looked so cool! "We normally just play around in the maze, I don't think we've ever made it to the actual castle." Dum said, looking around.

"Aw man! We forgot our axes brother!"

"Aw~"

"I have my gun! I got this." Boris said with a grin the twins, his pink gun appearing at the end of one of the chains hanging off of his belt. He grabbed it with a grin and the twins smiled with him.

"Let's go!"

So the three headed into the maze, laughing as the guards chased them around. Half way through, a question popped into his mind. 'How come such young kids do stuff like this?' The answer was simple really, they were in Wonderland. No other explanation was needed. The three hid once again, the guards running past them. They snickered before moving out into a clearing. "This is so much fun~" Boris said, the twins nodded behind him. Boris's ears perked up, hearing footsteps again. But it wasn't the guards...

Boris turned to face one of the paths leading into the clearing. "Dee, Dum, get behind me." The twins stared at him before doing as they were told. Boris held up his gun as someone walked into the clearing. It was a teenager, definitely older than Boris himself was. He had white hair, bright red eyes, and was wearing a white button up shirt, red vest, black pants are red books. Boris snickered quietly at the large white rabbit ears that decorated his head. The newcomer squinted his eyes to see the three infront of him.

"Oh, it's you two again. And you brought a cat."

"Uh oh! It's the white rabbit!" Dee whispered, tugging on the stripped boa. "We should get out of here Mister Kitty!"

"Who?" Boris looked back at the twins before at the Rabbit.

"Peter White. What are you doing in her majesty's maze?"

"Getting rid of our boredom?" Boris shrugged with a laugh, the twins laughed with him. A shot rang out and Boris's ears pinned back against his head. The shot landed in the hedge behind him, but it was way to high to even hit the three. Peter cursed, bringing his gun down.

"Missed." He mumbled.

"Hey, can you not see?" Boris asked, his gun disappearing as he walked towards Peter. The twins tried to pull him back.

"What're you doing?"

"Talking to the guy." Boris pulled his boa out of their grasps before walking over to Peter. When Boris was close enough, Peter held the gun to his head. It didn't seem to faze the cat as Peter still squinted his eyes.

"I can see you from here just fine." Suddenly something was held up infront of Peter's face. He lowered the fun and reached for the item. "What are these things?"

"Glasses. Lifted them off of Uncle Mary." Boris said, opening the sides and sliding them onto Peter's face. "That better?"

The rabbit blinked, taking a step back. He actually could see better, even if it was just alittle bit. He looked down at the cat, finally able to see his features. "...Who ARE you?"

"Boris Airay~ Cheshire Cat!" He grinned.

Peter left soon after than, handing the glasses back to Boris. The three then left the maze as it was getting dark. "Why did you try to make friends with the rabbit?" Dee asked as they all walked along the path, hand in hand.

"I wasn't making friends."

"Then why did you give him Mary go round's glasses?" Boris shrugged.

"He looked weird squinting like that. I almost busted out laughing the entire time, and then it woulda ruined my shot if i had to shoot." The twins laughed at the cat's explanation, and Boris grinned. They got back to the mansion, to see Blood and Gowland standing outside the gate, both looking highly pissed off. The three gulped, walking up to them.

"Hey Mister Blood, Uncle Mary." Boris grinned.

"You're in big trouble Boris." The cat whined, letting go of the twins hands, but the twins held onto him.

"We wanna play with Mister Kitty longer!" They cried.

"Dee, Dum..."

"You can play with the cat later you two." Blood picked them up and pulled them away from the cat. "Right now, you have lessons to attend." The twins whined as they were pushed inside of the gates.

"Bye Mister Kitty!"

"Bye you two!" Boris waved with a smile on his face.

"I do hope we can have another good conversation like we did today, Mary." Blood smirked before turning forward and continued pushing the kids into the mansion.

Boris felt Gowland stiffen next to him, and he knew he was in trouble. This was reassured when the duke grabbed ahold of one of Boris's ears. "Ow, ow, ow! Let go!"

"You aren't leaving the park for a very long time!" Then there's was a very painful dragging back to the Amusement Park for Boris. "If that guy spreads my name around Wonderland - it's your fault!"

"He wouldn't do that! Mister Blood is a nice guy-" Gowland stopped suddenly right infront of the front gate to the Amusement Park. Workers were standing inside, waiting for the two to get in so they could lock up for the night. Gowland sighed, letting go of Boris's ear, and he gave a sigh of relief. Gowland knelled down infront of Boris, who grabbed hsi ears and squeezed his eyes shut.

"I'm not gonna hurt you Boris, stop that." The cat opened his eyes to see Gowland's sad expression.

"Uncle Mary? What's wrong?" Boris tilted his head.

"Well...There's something I haven't told you." Boris blinked, trying to figure out what he was going to say, but he didn't have a clue. "The person that killed Chance-" The cat stiffened. "he came from the Hatter mansion. Blood ordered him to kill a man, no matter what the cost. The shot went through Chance as well as the other man." Boris's body shook as he gripped his boa tightly.

"Why didn't you-"

"I didn't think I should tell you. But now you know why I don't trust Blood at all." Gowland said, standing up. "and you shouldn't either." He held out his hand to Boris, who slowly took it and they headed back into the park.

"Night Boris." Gowland said as the cat headed up to his room. Boris gave a small 'hn' in reply as he walked up the stairs. He shut the door to his room, standing in a daze for a moment before leaning against the door and sliding to his knees. He held in a sob that wanted to come out as he squeezed his eyes shut.

_'3 years without crying...damn it' _Boris let a tear or two escape his yes before he wiped them away and stood up. _'I need to talk to Blood...'_


	4. A Cat's Unbirthday

Thanks again to people who reviewed on the last three chapters, you guys are full of awesome. Updates now might be slower, just to warn all of you. I try to type as much as I can during the week, but the only time i have alot of time to work would be on the weekends, so that's when the updates will more than likely be.

Makes an unbirthday reference in this chapter, just because one is never made.

Once again, I don't own HNKNA, but I own chance~ (yes, he's still being mentioned.)

**Chapter four: A Cat's Unbirthday**

"Well, Boris, I wasn't expecting you back so soon." It was almost midnight in Wonderland, and Blood had just finished up his last cup of tea. His window suddenly opened, and a stray cat walked inside.

"I need to ask you something." The cat held a serious face, this couldn't end well for the Hatter. Blood put the blood he had been reading down as Boris walked up to his desk.

"Yes?"

"Where's the guy who killed Mister Gowland three years ago?"

"Oh? So _Mary_ finally told you?" Blood smirked, leaning back into the chair.

"Yeah. And I want to shoot the bastard."

"Don't you think this is just your teenage emotions getting the best of you." Boris's cat ears twitched. "Chance's clock has long since been repaired. He's running around in the park for all you know. What's the point of shooting his killer?"

"I could say the same for you!" Boris slammed his fists on the Hatter's desk. "Three years ago the previous hatter died. You ordered the death of the person who shot him. That pressure made the madman go into the park and start a shooting rampage. " He growled. "I think it's fair that I shoot the man who killed the previous Cheshire cat, don't you think?" He smirked, and Blood stared at him for a moment before letting out a laugh.

"Looks like you caught that. Smart for a bratty teenager." Blood smirked, looking up at the cat. "Tell me, more than one important person was taken from you during that fight, wasn't there?"

Boris nodded. "My parents."

That seemed to strike a cord with Blood, and he gave a nod. "I will call the man for you. But please, let us head out to the garden. I don't need blood spatter over by books." Boris's ears perked up and he followed Blood out of the room. Boris sat on the large table that was set out for tea parties as he waited for Blood. He swung his legs back and forth for a few minutes before Blood walked back into the garden with a faceless man behind him.

"I believe this is the man you're looking for." Blood said, ordering the servant to stay put as he walked over to the cat.

"How do I know you're not lying and just giving me one of the lower guys?"

Blood chuckled. "Think of this as a birthday present. Trust me that the man before is indeed the one that killed the previous cat."

"It's not my birthday."

"Your unbirthday then."Boris snickered at the term, jumping off the table. "But shall I say one thing?"

"Yes?"

"His clock is just going to be repaired, the killer will be back."

"Was the same thing going through your head three years ago." The gun appeared at the end of Boris's chain again, and without warning the servant, a shot rang out. The shot hit the servant straight int he heart, blood spilling over the garden. Boris gave a sigh of relief, however Blood noticed his hand was shaking. "It's just a reliever."

"Was that the first man you've ever killed?" Boris slowly nodded. Blood smiled and patted the cat's head as two servants came out to move the body. "Well, you're always welcome here, Mister Cheshire."

"I swear Julius, I can't turn my back for that kid for a minute!" Gowland sighed, sitting at the table in the clockmaker's office with a bottle of wine. "One second he's going to bed, the next he's back at the Hatters!"

"He's a teenager, not to mention the Cheshire cat. It's natural he's curious." Julius pushed his long hair behind his shoulders, only for it to fall again. He gave a heavy sigh.

"Here, let me help you with that." Gowland grinned, pulling off one of the hairbands he used to keep his own long hair in a braid before heading over to Julius. The other looked at him strangely, but gave in and let the other do what he wished.

"Don't braid it."

"I know~ Just a ponytail." Gowland grinned, grabbing the long hair and pulled it back. "I'm surprised you let it get this long. I thought you said you didn't want it to go passed your shoulders?" He tied the hair back and walked into Julius's vision.

"I simply don't have time to cut it."

"Do you have enough time to drink with an old friend?" Juliu sighed.

"You're not giving me a choice are you?"

"Nope!"

The two sat down and shared a glass of wine. "Back to the subject on hand, what do you think I should do about Boris?"

"Honestly? Nothing." Julius took a sip.

"Nothing?"

"Yes, Nothing." The clockmaker put the glass down. "The more you try to restrain him, the more he'll struggle to try and break free."

"Speaking from personal experience?" Gowland's eyebrow raised.

"In a more literal sense." Julius sighed, but didn't go into _that_ subject. "What I'm trying to say is, he's a teenager. He's not the crybaby of a kid that would cling to you every second anymore. Not to mention the natural curiousness - he's a walking time bomb. One day you two are going to fight and explode if you don't just let him go now."

Gowland sighed, downing the rest of his glass rather quickly before pouring himself another one. "I guess you're right.."

"I know why you keep trying to make him stay close. You don't want to lose him like you did Chance." Gowland looked away. "That's how Wonderland works Gowland."

"I know...but it's not just that..."

Julius perked up, this was new. "Then what?"

"Chance took a liking to Boris. I would notice them play in the park all the time. Boris was like a little brother to Chance - no. He was like a son..." Gowalnd took off his glasses and laid them on the table before putting his hands over his eyes. "And the look Boris gave me when I told him Chance was dead...I just don't want to see that again..."

Julius's eyes soften, so for once Gowland was actually trying to do the right thing. "I think he's in more danger exploring the world without your permission than with it."

"How do you think that?" Gowland lowered his hands to look over at his friend.

"Because if he actually has your permission, then he'll leave, but he'll always come back. If you keep restraining him then he'll just run away for good."

There was a moment of silence as Gowland thought over the other's words. Eventually he smiled and took a sip of his wine. "You're right Julius, as always." Julius sighed and he finished his glass before going back to work.

Gowland got back to the park later that night to see the workers packing up for the night. "Sir, Lord Boris is on the ferris wheel, and hasn't gotten off for the last hour." Gowland looked at the worker than sighed. He looked off at the park, seeing the ferris wheel still spinning.

"I'll handle it." Gowland told the worker, sending him off before walking over to the Ferris Wheel. At the controls was a young woman, looking over at Gowland as he walked up.

"H-He just telling me to make it keep going..."

"Stop it so that he's down here. I need to have a chat with him." The woman nodded, tinkering with the controls and the cart with Boris in it was now in front of Boris. The cat looked like he was about to talk to the worker, but saw Gowland and froze. He turned away as the duke got in. Gowland closed the small door behind him and told the worker to start up the wheel again. The cart slowly made it's way up, and Gowland slid over so he was sitting across from the cat.

"What do you want?" Boris asked, still looking out of the window.

Gowland crossed his arms across his chest. This was going to be harder than he thought. "Listen, Boris..." The cat looked at him. "I don't care if you leave the territory or not." Cat ears perked up. "I just want you to know that it's dangerous out there. And I can't always be there to help you out. If you want to go do dangerous stunts, that's fine. But don't drag blood all over my amusement park - and don't bring any of that danger back with you."

It took a second for what the duke had just said to sink into Boris's think skull. A grin broke out on his face and he jumped at the neck, hugging him tightly. "You're the best Uncle Mary!"

Gowlad sighed, but gave a small smile as he hugged the kid back ."Now another thing." Boris looked up at him. "You're older now, and you know full well I'm not your uncle. Just call me Gowland, okay?" Not to mention he didn't need anyone else in Wonderland finding out his first name. Boris eagerly nodded, smiling uncontrollably.

"Okay Gowland!"

"Good. Now let's get off this wheel, shall we?"

"Okay! I'm starting to get dizzy anyways."

Another year passed and Gowland realized Julius was right. Boris would leave some days, but he always came back, even if it took awhile. Gowland let the boy do what he wanted, and Boris seemed to enjoy it. So all was good in the park. Until one day the cat came into the park wounded.

Boris winced as one of the workers rushed over ot him. "I'm fine." He hissed, holding the bleeding wound on his arm. He thought it would've stopped bleeding by now. He smiled at the worker before heading to his room.

"Boris! I thought I told you not to leave blood everywhere!" Gowland scolded as he walked into the cat's room after hearing he was wounded from the worker.

"Shut it Gowland! Not in the mood!" The cat hissed, licking the wound on his arm the best he could. The man sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"When you feel better, clean up your mess."

"What? Why can't you just make the workers do it?" Boris whined.

"Because it's your mess." With the Gowland left the cat to mend his wounds. Boris huffed, wrapping up his arm before sneaking of his window. Like hell he was going to clean. He decided if he went away for awhile, one of the workers would eventually clean up the blood. So the cat started to head over to the hatters, maybe he would get to play with Dee and Dum again?

Within minutes he was standing in front of the large gates, instead of actually walking through the open gates, he jumped onto the wall and jumped over. He hadn't been here for awhile, he wondered if the twins would be bad at him.

"Mister kitty!" Boris broke out into a smile as the twins ran up to him.

"Hey guys! Nice clothes." He noticed the twins actually wearing the color that matched their eyes. It sort of fit them better.

"Thanks! Boss got them for us!" Dee smiled.

"Hey, Hey! You should come meet the hare!" Boris' eyebrow raised.

"Hare?"

"Yeah! Boss randomly brought a guy with rabbit ears. He's with the guy in his office." Dee said.

"He's huge! He's taller than boss!" Dum added.

"But Boss won't let us inside." They whined. Boris chuckled and patted their heads.

"Leave it to me~" Boris said,before walking along the building. The twins looked at each other and started to follow him. Boris looked back at them and gave them a sign to be quite before coming to the window that he knew was Blood's office. He silently pushed open the window and climbed in. The Hatter was sitting on one of the couches in his office, next to a tall blond male. The blond's rabbit ears perked up as Boris got into the room, and he stood up suddenly. The cat froze before giving a nervous chuckle. "Caught~"

"Calm down Elliot, he is no threat." Blood stood and pushed the blond back onto the couch before turning his attention to Boris. "The twins told you I assume?"

"Yup!" His cat tail swayed. "I wanted to see the new guy!" Blood chuckled before sitting back down on the couch.

"Then come over and introduce yourself." Boris nodded, running over and sitting on back of the couch that was across from the one that the other two were sitting on.

"Boris Airay! Nice to meet you!" The cheshire grinned, his tail swaying as he stared at the Hare. Elliot stared back for a moment before asking.

"When did Chance die?" That certainly caught both the cat and the Hatter off guard, the former falling off the back of the couch and onto the floor.

"Ow..."

"Are...you alright?" Elliot asked as Blood chuckled.

"He'll be just fine. The boy has a thick skull."

"Hey!" Boris popped up, jumping over the back of the couch. "Not funny."

"You didn't answer my question though." Elliot said, looking between the cat and the Hatter.

"You've been gone awhile haven't you?' Boris chuckled, trying not to think about that day. T much red for his tastes. "It's been a few years."

"Boris, do you mind showing elliot to a room? I need to deal with the two outside of my window." Dee and Dum froze, and quickly started to run away.

"What am I? One of your lackeys~?" He whined but stood up. "Fine, come on Mister Elliot!" Boris grabbed the older man's hand, pulling him up before dragging him to the hall.

"H-Hey! Blood-"

"You can trust him Elliot, for the most part." Blood said as he took the other direction in the hall.

"I guess you'll want something close to the boss's room huh?" Boris asked as he dragged the other. "Then I know the room for you!" It suddenly became very hard to continue walking, and he looked back to see the hare completely still. "Yo, elliot, you okay?"

"What happened to Chance?" Elliot asked, his eyes suddenly very sad. It almost looked like he was about to cry. Knowing this, Boris didn't want to tell him the truth.

"There was a shootout at the park, he was shot. So what?" Boris asked, shrugging. "His clock is probably already fixed any-" Before he could finish that sentence, he was slammed against the wall. He groaned, his ears pinning back against his head as he looked up at the tall blond. "What's your problem?"

Elliot seemed to stare for a moment while Boris was hissing at him. He let the boy go after awhile. "You lost someone in that shootout didn't you?" Boris froze. "You wanna know why I was gone for so long?" Boris had to admit, he was curious. So he gave a small nod as his ears started to perk up again. "I smashed my friend's clock." Boris stared with wide eyes, you could do that? "Both me and him didn't want to be reborn a different person. It's just...wrong, don't you think?" Boris had to say, he never really thought about it. "Who did you lose?"

"My parents.."His shoulders shook as he tried to hold in the tears. No, he was not going to cry again. Elliot seemed to give the kid a sad smile before patting him on the head.

"Sorry for your loss. Now, shall we get going?" Boris nodded, grabbing ahold of the other's sleeve without a word and started to drag him down the hall. Boris opened up the large door and lead him into the larger room. "Wow, I forgot how big the rooms were in this place." Elliot said before Boris let go of his sleeve to go jump on the bed. Elliot rolled his eyes, but didn't stop the kid.

"Hey, Elliot." Boris asked when he stopped jumped, and the hare looked over at him. "Isn't breaking a clock like, against the rules or something?"

"Yup. Got locked up by that stupid clockmaker..." Elliot hissed out as he explored his new room. It needed some color.."Blood got me out though."

"So does that mean that Blood's gonna get locked up to?" He asked, tail twitching.

Elliot laughed. "I don't think they could catch him." Boris laughed aswell.

"Yeah, you're probably right.." He said, sitting down on the bed and leaned against the headboard. It was quite for a moment before Elliot started to speak again.

"What did the duke do when Chance was shot?"

Boris was caught of by the question, absentmindedly stroking his boa. "Um...Dunno. I was kinda focused on my parents..." He said, pulling the boa off of his shoulders. "Apparently he had enough breath to say he wanted his boa to be passed onto the next cheshire." Elliot walked over, touching the boa before a smile broke out on his face.

"I knew this was firmilar. God, he really did love this thing. Did you dye it?"

"Gowland had one of the workers dye it for me. Since I like purple and pink better than teal and gray."

Elliot nodded. "Makes sense."

"So you knew Chance?" He asked, pulling the boa back into it's rightful spot.

"Yup. We were pretty good friends, you know, when the previous hatter was still around." He said, sitting on the bed next to Boris. "I was with him when he got that boa. He just saw and it ran off to buy it. It was completely white then he dyed it teal and gray." Boris just nodded, standing up from the bed and going over to the window.

"I need to get back to the park." They heard screams of 'Help us Mister kitty!' outside. "Not to mention I should probably save the twins from your boss."

"If you say so. Nice to meetcha Boris."

He grinned. "You won't be saying that for long~" Boris chuckled before jumping out of the window.

Elliot smirked and leaned back into the headboard. "You got a good replacement Chance..."


	5. A New Game

Sorry that this chapter is sort of late, and it's the shortest chapter so far DX My brain sort of died half way through this nonsense. I tried to make it as interesting as possible, but I don't know if I succeeded. More characters entering this chapter, so I've introduced everyone in the Country of Hearts (Might bring in Nightmare in the next chapter)

This story will be ending soon, within the next few chapters. I wanna thank all of you who have reviewed this story, you guys are awesome!

**Chapter 5: A new game**

"We're going to the castle?" Boris pulled his boa over his shoulders before heading out of his room, following the duke. "Why? What's going on?"

"There's an event of course!"

"An Event..." He briefly remembered something along these lines at the clock tower a while back. That was a fun day, well, it depended on who you asked. "Why is it at the castle?"

"The territories take turns holding events kid." Gowland explained as they made it outside. He waited for his group of workers to gather around, looking over at Boris. "It's the queen's turn this time. She decided to hold a croquet game, it sounds interesting enough."

"Croquet?"

Gowland laughed. "I'll tell you the rules on the way." Boris sighed and rolled his eyes. This sounded like it was going to be boring. But since it was an event, he would get to see the twins again. They hadn't had a chance to hang out in awhile. Boris followed, but his now 15 year old mind did not want to listen to Gowland talk about the game they would be playing. From the first few words out of the duke's mouth, the cat knew this was going to be a boring event. However, he didn't really have a choice as he learned during his last event.

Boris looked up at the maze before at the guards who were supposed to lead them in. "Hey guys~ Long time no see!" Gowland was about to ask, however he just shook his head. He didn't want to know how Boris knew the guards of the castle. The guards lead Gowland, Boris, and some of the amusement park workers through the maze to the huge cleaning that Boris was familiar with by now. His eyes lit up as he saw the hatters on the other end of the clearing.

"Alright, go talk to them if you must." Gowland waved the Cheshire off. "But come back over before the game starts."

"Alright!" Boris said jumping over the table that was set out with small snacks on it. One of the guards yelled at him, but he just laughed and ran over to the hatters, not like they could start a fight at an event. "Hey Dee, Dum!"

"Boris!" The twins ran up to him, wearing their new matching uniforms.

"Hey Boris!" Dee said with a grin.

"This isn't as fun without the guards chasing us." Dum said laughing.

"Yeah! I'm with you there!" Boris grinned. "But hey, we get free food."

"And no work!" Dee said grinning just as much as the Cheshire.

"That's always a plus!" Boris said before looking towards the hatter and hare. "Hey Elliot!" The blond smiled at him, he was looking healthier after staying at the Hatter's for almost a year now. However he still had a hard time leaving the mansion, not to mention Blood's side.

"Hey kid." Eliot said, before shoving his mouth full of a small carrot cake. Boris rolled his eyes, he wasn't about to bring up the subject of Elliot and carrots - he didn't want the blond spazzing about how he 'wasn't a rabbit' again. Bringing his eyes down, the pink haired teen saw someone hiding behind Elliot. Boris walked closer, and the other seemed to completely hide himself.

"Who's that?" Elliot looked down at the red-organe haired boy behind him.

"Oh, this is Pierce."

"Pierce is our new dormouse, just joined us last week. It's his first time out with us." Blood chimed in, reaching behind Elliot to pull the boy out. Pierce let out a squeak, holing onto his hat with his free hand. Boris looked the mouse over; He wore an oversized cream button up shirt with black pants, and green boots. He wore a small black hat over one of his ears, and his hair was an odd red-orange color. Boris raised an eyebrow at the shy teen 'he can't be that much younger than me' he thought.

"N-Nice to meet you.." The boy stuttered out. "I-I'm Pierce V-Villiers..." the dormouse grew more and more nervous as the cat stared at him. A shudder went through his body as he saw Boris lick his lips.

"You smell tasty~" Pierce squeaked and went to hiding behind Elliot again. The twins and cat laughed as Blood seemed to sigh.

The cat's ears twitched as trumpets were blown. The people in the clearing turned towards the large opening in the hedges. Boris recognized the woman who walked into the clearing to be the Queen of Hearts. The teenager to her right was Peter, now sporting a new pair of glasses. However Boris didn't recognize the brunette to her left. He was dressed completely in red and black, and his eyes were red aswell, freaking out the cat just slightly.

"Shall we begin our game?" The Queen asked, though it's not like any of them had a choice. "Who here has not played before?" Boris instantly raised his hand. The twins followed, then Elliot, and a few faceless people from each group. The brunette also raised his hand. "Alright then. We have set up a workshop for beginners, please allow the maids and our prime minister to teach you." Boris rolled his eyes, atleast he would be with the twins and Elliot. However the blond seemed uncomfortable leaving Blood's side.

"Go on Elliot, have fun for once." Blood said before moving over to the other side of the area. Boris noticed the hare's eyes follow him and the cat decided to distract him.

"Come on Marchy~" Boris teased, grabbing the taller man's sleeve. "You got us~"

So the group that didn't know the rules were separated from the serious players so they could learn the rules. Pierce didn't want to let go of Elliot, but he didn't want to be near Boris and the twins more, so he went with the others. The ones who knew the rules gathered around the table that had snacks on them and tried to have a decent conversation with one another. "Hey, Vivaldi." The Queen looked up from her tea, Gowland smiling at her."Did you ever figure out that riddle?" The other roleholders seemed interested at the Queen and Duke's conversation now.

"Ah, it has been so long." The Queen commented, setting her tea cup down. "We have forgotten if we ever found the answer."

"Would hearing the riddle again help you remember?" The Queen gave a look. "Oh come on, I'm bored and it doesn't look like the kids are gonna be done anytime soon." Gowland looked over at beginners group. The white rabbit was yelling at the cat and twins to pay attention, and Gowland couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

"Alright!" Gowland grinned, finishing up his own tea before putting the cup down. "Okay. I'm a flower, and put the two of me together and I shoot up in the air, what flower am I?" The other role holders at the table listened to the riddle,the three of them having a confused look on their face (which was rare for all of them). Gowland just smiled. "Come one Vivialdi~ He made this riddle just for you."

"Who did?" Gowland looked over to see Boris leaning against the table.

"I thought you were with Peter."

"We're done, he went off to finish setting up the course thing." Boris said, tail swaying. "So who made up that lame riddle?"

"The previous Cheshire cat." Their heads turned to the Queen."He told us this riddle years ago, we were never able to figure out the answer." Boris stared for a moment, his ears pinning down against his head. He jumped onto the table, sitting on it cross legged. The Queen seemed annoyed at this, but didn't say anything as she looked at the happy, yet sad, expression on the Cheshire's face. 'So cute...' she thought.

"Can I tell you the answer then Queeny?" She seemed abit annoyed at the nickname but gave a nod.

"We would like to hear the answer."

Boris gave a chuckle, putting his hand behind his back before pulling out a rose from what seemed like no where.

"A rose?" Blood asked as the queen stared at the flower.

"Yeah!" Boris handed the Queen the rose. "A. Rose. Put the two together, arose!" He gave a small laugh. "How could you didn't figure this out sooner Queeny? The answers all around you." He looked out at the rose garden they were in. "It's kinda hard to miss."

The Queen stayed silent for a moment before giving a small laugh. "Yes, I suppose it is." She stared at the cat, who stared back with his ears twitching. "What is your name new Cheshire?"

"Boris Airay." He grinned. "And what do ya mean 'New'? I _am_ the _only_ Cheshire!"

The Croquet game lasted far longer than the cat would have liked. In the end, the clockmaker won - Boris wondered how good the blue haired man could be at an outdoor sport if he was such a shut in. The guests were welcome to stay until all the food was gone, but the Queen had already headed back up to the castle. "You stayin' Boris?" The duke asked as Boris shoved a cake into his mouth.

"Yeah. It's not often I get to stay here without a guard chasing me!" Boris grinned, chocolate decorating the sides of his mouth. Gowland chuckled, handing the cat a napkin.

"Show some class, you stray." Boris took the napkin, sticking his tongue out at the back of the duke's head as he started to walk off. Two male workers stayed with him as most of the Queen's maids and guards left for their posts, and all of the Hatter's left. Julius stayed behind to finish his tea, but soon he was gone aswell. Soon the sky went from high noon to twlight. Boris noticed it was just him, the workers, Peter White, and the brunette from eariler (Which he had learned was the Knight of Hearts).

"Shall we get going lord Boris?" Boris snapped out of his thoughts when one of the workers spoke to him. He gave a nod, standing up.

"Hey, wait kitty cat~" Boris' tail twitched with annoyance at the name. Only the twins were allowed to call him a kitty! He let it slide this time, seeing as it was the Knight who was speaking to him. "We didn't get a chance to talk eariler, mind if I walk you out?" Boris raised an eyebrow at the overly kind kind but shook it off.

"Sure! Me and the guys don't mind, right?" He looked back at the workers, who shook their heads. Boris noticed Peter shaking his head at the end of the table, but ignored it as the Knight started to walk out of the clearing. "Hey! Wait up!" The group then ran after the knight. However the group soon fell silent, and it was alittle more that the Cheshire could bare. "So what's your name Mister Knight?"

The brunette walked slower so he would be walking right next to the cat. "I'm Ace." He smiled. A shiver went through the cat's spine. Something was off about this guy...he couldn't put his finger on it though. "What about you Kitty?"

"Please don't call me that." Boris grumbled as the workers behind him held back a laugh. "It's Boris."

"Ha~ That's a funny name~" The older teen grinned.

"Like Ace is any better!" The brunette shrugged that off and seemed to go down a different path than Boris had remembered. "Um, Ace, That's the wrong way."

"No it isn't." Ace kept walking.

"I've snuck in here enough times to know! We go straight, take the next right, right, left, left then the enterance is right there." Ace stopped and looked back at Boris, blinking with confusion before a smirk appeared on his face. Boris took a step back, something was really off about this guy...

"So it's you that makes my job harder~ I'm suppose to be helping out the guards, but you and the twins just seem to knock them down one by one~" The cat didn't like where this was going. Apparently neither did his 'bodyguards', because the two workers pushed him back. The Knight pulled out a sword that was almost as tall as him from his coat. 'Where did he hid that thing?' "We're far enough away from the other's now, wanna fight?"

"Su-" The worker pushed him back even farther. "Hey! I want to fight him."

"Trust me Lord Boris, you don't want to go against this guy." The worker said, and the knight smirked. Without warning he charged, cutting down one of the workers. Boris stared wide eyed as blood splattered on his face, horrible flahbacks going through his mind made him freeze. The unharmed worker grabbed Boris' hand and started to book it to the exit path the cat had explained eariler.

The bleeding worker on the ground tried to get up, but Ace brought his sword up, then down into the adult's body. More blood spattered as the knight sighed. "To bad..." He thought as he watched the others leave. Normally, he would've chased after him, but he couldn't be bothered now.

"You're making my job rather difficult." Ace turned around to see the blue haired clock maker standing behind him, arms crossed. "Not only do you kill off your own guards, but people from other territories? No wonder I've been busy."

"Ah~ Mister Clockmaker! Just the man I wanted to see! I'm glad you thought about my offer to meet." The Knight grinned.

"What do you want Ace?" Julius glared.

"I was wondering~ Do you have any jobs available?"


	6. Relationship advice

**_I'm SO sorry this took so long, and the fact it's so short_**. I just graduated from high school and have been trying to get everything together for college - schedule, books, transportation, etc. My writing time and muse have been short, so I tried to knock this last chapter out in one go. Nightmare makes a small appearence, Boris is drinking underage, etc. There's a hint of BorisxAlice at the end, but i don't support the pairing.

This story is offically over after this, thanks for everyone who reviewed and gave good comments, I love you all dearly. I will try to write another HNKNA story soon, when i get the time.

On that note, I don't own HNKNA~

"Whoa, where am I?" The 15 year old Cheshire looked around. He was standing in an empty area, sand sticking to the bottom of his white shoes. He stuck his tongue out at the sand, he hated his shoes being dirty. He took another look around before yelling out. "HELLO?"

"No need to be so loud." The cat's ears twitched and he spun around, almost falling over because the ground he was on wasn't exactly stable. The voice chuckled. "Careful." Boris looked up to see a silver haired man floating in the air.

He gave up on actually standing up on the slick landscape and decided sitting down was his best option. He stared up at the man with an eyepatch before asking "Who're you?" His ears twitched again.

"I'm Nightmare."

"That's a cool name."

Nightmare blinked. "You think so? Everyone seems to think it's creepy."

"Nah, it's cool." He grinned, tail swaying. "So what's your role huh? I can see you actually have a face so~"

"I take the role pf the caterpillar."

"Cater...piller..." Boris had to think for a moment. That role was brought up in the lessons that the Duke tried to give him when he was younger. It snapped back to him in a second and his attention went back to nightmare. "Aren't you from the Country of Clovers?"

"Very good Boris, it seems someone in the country of hearts has a brain."

"Of course." Boris smirked, taking in the compliment like a sponge. "What do you want with me though?"

"You're one of the few role holders from the country of hearts I haven't talked to yet -"

"And?"

"And there's something I wanted to talk to you about." Boris huffed, leaning his head onto his palm. "What are you huffing about?"

"When old guys like you want to talk it's normally boring." That stabbed Nightmare harder than he thought it would. He gave his own huff before shaking his head.

"Whatever kid, I'm talking to you on behalf of Gowland." Boris' ears perked up. "You've cut yourself off from others lately haven't you?" The cat looked away and said nothing, the caterpillar took this as a chance to continue. "He just wants to know why."

"It's none of his god damn business."

"He's curious, and worried."

"I'm the one supposed to be curious, stupid old man." Boris sighed, dropping his hand. "I'm just a moody teenager, he needs to get over it. I can take care of myself." He glanced at Nightmare, who was staring a hole into his head. "Alright Alright! My girlfriend dumped me."

"You had a girlfriend?"

"Yeah, The old man didn't know about it either. But she dumped me to run after some other faceless guy - shoulda seen that coming."

"Things are different for role holders..."

"Don't you think I've figured that out already?" Boris snapped, causing Nightmare much of a surprise. So much he coughed up blood. "Hey! Old man!" Boris scurried over as the man fell to his knees. "Hey! You're not gonna die are you? I don't want Gowland yelling at me for being covered in blood again."

"One day Boris..." Nightmare started, bringing out a handkerchief and wiping the blood from his mouth. "One day you'll find someone...who won't turn their back on you."

"Yeah, right." Boris countered, rolling his eyes. "If we're done with relationship advice, I need to get back. I have to get over a hangover in the morning and help around the park." Nightmare shook his head.

"One day you'll understand."

**"Get up you stupid cat!"**

That was the first thing Boris heard when he woke up, and fell off of his bed. "Ow..." His ears pinned back as he rubbed where he hit his forehead on the ground.

"You stole all of my good wine!" That had been how he fell asleep, and it was kind of hard to deny the fact when his bed was covered by wine bottles.

"Yeah~ It was good~" Gowland smacked Boris over the head. "Ow ow ow ow ow! I got a headache!"

"It serves you right! You better replace all of what you drank, you useless cat!" With that Gowland turned his back to Boris and stomped off. Boris watched him leave, the sudden urge to laugh taking over him.

"Looks like Gowland isn't the person who won't turn their back on me..."He laughed, leaning against his bed, hugging his boa tightly.

Two years passed, and the twins came running into the park, asking Boris if they could all hang out and maybe play a game at the castle. Boris was all for it, leaving the second he could and walked down the path with the twins. "Oh! Have you met the lady?" Boris raised an eyebrow. "There's an outsider! We almost killed her eariler, but boss stopped us and told us to be nice to the lady!"

"Outsider?" Boris tapped his chin in thought. "That sounds pretty interesting!"

"Look!" Dee pointed out, "There she is!" Dum finished, both of the twins then took off towards the blond. Boris followed after them, seeing the blond girl in a blue and white dress. Boris' clock seemed to stop for a moment, then ticked quickly.

_'Maybe she's the one..'_


End file.
